F. K. Diakonos

The helium atom in a strong magnetic field

We investigate the electronic structure of the helium atom in a magnetic field between B = 0 and . The atom is treated as a nonrelativistic system with two interacting electrons and a fixed nucleus. Scaling laws are provided connecting the fixed-nucleus Hamiltonian to the one for the case of finite nuclear mass. Respecting the symmetries of the electronic Hamiltonian in the presence of a magnetic field, we represent this Hamiltonian as a matrix with respect to a two-particle basis composed of one-particle states of a Gaussian basis set. The corresponding generalized eigenvalue problem is solved numerically, providing results for vanishing magnetic quantum number M = 0 and even or odd z-parity, each for both singlet and triplet spin symmetry. Total electronic energies of the ground state and the first few excitations in each subspace as well as their one-electron ionization energies are presented as a function of the magnetic field, and their behaviour is discussed. Energy values for electromagnetic transitions within the M = 0 subspace are shown, and a complete table of wavelengths at all the detected stationary points with respect to their field dependence is given, thereby providing a basis for a comparison with observed absorption spectra of magnetic white dwarfs.

Theory and examples of the inverse Frobenius-Perron problem for complete chaotic maps

The general solution of the inverse Frobenius-Perron problem considering the construction of a fully chaotic dynamical system with given invariant density is obtained for the class of one-dimensional unimodal complete chaotic maps. Some interesting connections between this general solution and the special approach via conjugation transformations are illuminated. The developed method is applied to obtain a class of maps having as invariant density the two-parametric beta-probability density function. Varying the parameters of the density a rich variety of dynamics is observed. Observables like autocorrelation functions, power spectra, and Liapunov exponents are calculated for representatives of this family of maps and some theoretical predictions concerning the decay of correlations are tested. (c) 1999 American Institute of Physics.

A stochastic approach to the construction of one-dimensional chaotic maps with prescribed statistical properties

Abstract We use a recently found parametrization of the solutions of the inverse Frobenius–Perron problem within the class of complete unimodal maps to develop a Monte Carlo approach for the construction of one-dimensional chaotic dynamical laws with given statistical properties, i.e. invariant density and autocorrelation function. A variety of different examples are presented to demonstrate the power of our method.

Fractal geometry of critical systems

We investigate the geometry of a critical system undergoing a second-order thermal phase transition. Using a local description for the dynamics characterizing the system at the critical point T=T(c), we reveal the formation of clusters with fractal geometry, where the term cluster is used to describe regions with a nonvanishing value of the order parameter. We show that, treating the cluster as an open subsystem of the entire system, new instanton-like configurations dominate the statistical mechanics of the cluster. We study the dependence of the resulting fractal dimension on the embedding dimension and the scaling properties (isothermal critical exponent) of the system. Taking into account the finite-size effects, we are able to calculate the size of the critical cluster in terms of the total size of the system, the critical temperature, and the effective coupling of the long wavelength interaction at the critical point. We also show that the size of the cluster has to be identified with the correlation length at criticality. Finally, within the framework of the mean field approximation, we extend our local considerations to obtain a global description of the system.

FRACTALS AT T = TC DUE TO INSTANTONLIKE CONFIGURATIONS

We investigate the geometry of the critical fluctuations for a general system undergoing a thermal second order phase transition. Adopting a generalized effective action for the local description of the fluctuations of the order parameter at the critical point (

On the construction of one-dimensional iterative maps from the invariant density: the dynamical route to the beta distribution

T=T_c

Evolutionary phase space in driven elliptical billiards

) we show that instanton-like configurations, corresponding to the minima of the effective action functional, build up clusters with fractal geometry characterizing locally the critical fluctuations. The connection between the corresponding (local) fractal dimension and the critical exponents is derived. Possible extension of the local geometry of the system to a global picture is also discussed.

Local symmetries and perfect transmission in aperiodic photonic multilayers

Abstract Using the Frobenius-Perron functional equation we construct a one-dimensional iterative map resulting from a given invariant density. As a specific example we focus on the symmetric beta distribution and obtain a class of maps with a broad range of universal properties. The analytical behaviour as well as the bifurcation routes of these maps are studied in some detail.

Invariants of broken discrete symmetries.

We perform the first long-time exploration of the classical dynamics of a driven billiard with a four dimensional phase space. With increasing velocity of the ensemble we observe an evolution from a large chaotic sea with stickiness due to regular islands to thin chaotic channels with diffusive motion leading to Fermi acceleration. As a surprising consequence, we encounter a crossover, which is not parameter induced but rather occurs dynamically, from amplitude dependent tunable subdiffusion to universal normal diffusion in momentum space. In the high velocity case we observe particle focusing in phase space.

Word-length Entropies and Correlations of Natural Language Written Texts

We develop a classification of perfectly transmitting resonances occuring in effectively onedimensional optical media which are decomposable into locally reflection symmetric parts. The local symmetries of the medium are shown to yield piecewise translation-invariant quantities, which are used to distinguish resonances with arbitrary field profile from resonances following the medium symmetries. Focusing on light scattering in aperiodic multilayer structures, we demonstrate this classification for representative setups, providing insight into the origin of perfect transmission. We further show how local symmetries can be utilized for the design of optical devices with perfect transmission at prescribed energies. Providing a link between resonant scattering and local symmetries of the underlying medium, the proposed approach may contribute to the understanding of optical response in complex systems.